7 Myths About 50/50 Time-Sharing in Florida, Corrected by the 2023 Law

Last reviewed October 30, 2026 by Good Life Legal.

Quick Answer: Is Florida a 50/50 custody state now?

Yes, as a starting point. Since July 1, 2023, Florida law begins every time-sharing case with a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child's best interests (Fla. Stat. § 61.13). Three things to know:

• The presumption is a starting point, not a guarantee. Either parent can rebut it by a preponderance of the evidence.
• The child's best interests, measured by a list of statutory factors, still decide the case.
• Florida law decides parental responsibility and time-sharing, two separate questions, and the difference changes how you should plan.

You did the research. Most of it is out of date.

You are the kind of parent who reads up before making a move. That is usually the right instinct. On this subject it can backfire, because most of what ranks online about Florida and the kids was written before July 1, 2023, and that is the day Florida rewrote the rules.

So you have probably collected seven different answers from seven different pages, and some of them describe law that no longer exists. That is not a small problem when your schedule with your children is what is at stake.

This post corrects the seven myths we hear most often, each one against the current statute. Read it once and you will be working from the law as it stands today, not as it stood in 2022.

Is Florida a 50/50 state now?

The honest answer is yes, as a starting point. Since July 1, 2023, Florida law presumes that equal time-sharing is in a child's best interests (Fla. Stat. § 61.13). The presumption is rebuttable, which means a parent can overcome it with evidence. What that takes, and what it does not, is where the myths live.

One correction comes before all the others, because it changes how you read everything else. Florida's statutes do not use the word custody. Under Fla. Stat. § 61.13, the court decides two separate things: parental responsibility, meaning who makes the major decisions about school, health care, and the child's upbringing, and time-sharing, meaning the actual calendar of when the child is with each parent.

Two questions, not one. Parents can share decision-making equally and still have an uneven calendar, or the reverse. Planning around the two real questions, instead of one borrowed word, is how you build a proposal a Florida court can act on.

With the words straight, here are the myths.

The seven myths, corrected

1. Myth: Florida has no 50/50 presumption. This was true before July 1, 2023, and an enormous amount of content still says it. It is now wrong. Since that date, Fla. Stat. § 61.13 has contained a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child's best interests, created by the 2023 law. If an article does not mention the 2023 change, it is describing dead law.
2. Myth: Equal time-sharing is automatic now. The overcorrection is wrong too. The presumption is rebuttable, and a parent may rebut it by a preponderance of the evidence (Fla. Stat. § 61.13). Preponderance means more likely than not, the lowest standard of proof courts use. The presumption sets the starting point and decides who carries the burden. It does not decide the case.
3. Myth: The judge just picks a parent. The best interests of the child are the primary consideration, evaluated under roughly twenty enumerated factors in Fla. Stat. § 61.13(3)(a) through (t): each parent's ability to put the child's needs first, to keep a consistent routine, to support the child's relationship with the other parent, and more. A strong case is built factor by factor, with evidence, not won on impressions.
4. Myth: The 2023 law only helps fathers. The statute is parent-neutral. The presumption of equal time-sharing applies to both parents, and the factors measure parenting, not gender. Neither parent starts ahead; both start at the same presumption, and the evidence does the rest.
5. Myth: A 50/50 schedule means no child support. Equal time changes the support math. It does not erase it. Florida child support runs on the parents' combined net monthly income under Fla. Stat. § 61.30, and two parents with equal time and unequal incomes can still see a real support number. When each parent has the child for at least 73 overnights a year, 20 percent of the nights, Florida's child support guideline shifts to a method that accounts for spending in both households (Fla. Stat. § 61.30).
6. Myth: If your ex stops paying support, you can withhold the kids. Or if your ex withholds the kids, you can stop paying. Florida law closes both doors, on purpose. A parent owed support may not withhold time-sharing over nonpayment, and a parent denied time-sharing must keep paying ordered support (Fla. Stat. § 61.13(4)). Withholding a child over money is wrong, and the statute treats it that way: when a parent refuses to honor the schedule without proper cause, the court is required to award the other parent make-up time to compensate. If this is happening to you, the answer is enforcement through the court, not retaliation that puts you on the wrong side of the same statute.
7. Myth: You cannot change an old parenting plan unless something unanticipated happens. For years that one word blocked parents from fixing outdated plans. The 2023 law deleted it. Modification now requires a substantial and material change in circumstances plus the child's best interests (Fla. Stat. § 61.13). If your plan was written for a life that no longer exists, the bar to changing it is lower than most older articles say.

Here is the pattern across all seven: the law did not hand anyone a result. It handed both parents a clearer starting point and left the case to the evidence. That rewards the parent who prepares, and preparation is a thing you can control. Most parents who call us about time-sharing already know what a workable schedule looks like. What they need is the current law applied to their facts, and a plan to get it ordered, because a schedule argued from a dead statute is an expensive thing to unwind later. If you want to know where your situation stands under the 2023 law, and what your case would cost, in writing, before you commit, call Good Life Legal at 850-362-7228 or complete the form on this page and we will call you.

What does rebutting the presumption actually take?

A preponderance of the evidence, tied to the best-interests factors. In practice that means the parent asking for something other than equal time has to show, more likely than not, that a different schedule serves the child better, and the proof runs through the factor list in Fla. Stat. § 61.13(3)(a) through (t).

Here is a side-by-side of what people say the 2023 law did against what it actually did.

Worth a plain sentence: businesslike preparation beats heat. The factors reward the parent who shows up with school records, calendars, work schedules, and a workable plan, not the one who shows up angriest. If there is real misconduct in your case, substance abuse, violence, a parent who simply will not do the job, that is exactly what the factors exist to weigh, and it should be presented plainly and with evidence rather than as accusation.

When we build a time-sharing case, we build it against the factor list, because that is the list the judge is holding. You get a strategy that is smart, direct, and effective, and you know the number before you start.

What do parents still ask us about the 2023 law?

What does rebuttable presumption mean in plain English?
It means the court starts from equal time-sharing, and a parent who believes equal time is not in the child's best interests can overcome that starting point with evidence. The standard is a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not (Fla. Stat. § 61.13).

Can I change a parenting plan we made before 2023?
Changing any Florida parenting plan requires a substantial and material change in circumstances plus the child's best interests (Fla. Stat. § 61.13). The old requirement that the change be unanticipated was deleted in 2023, which lowered a bar many older plans were measured against. Whether your facts meet the current test is a case-specific question worth asking before you file.

Does equal time-sharing end child support?
No. Florida child support is calculated on the parents' combined net monthly income under Fla. Stat. § 61.30, and schedules where each parent has at least 20 percent of the overnights use a method that accounts for spending in both homes. Equal time with unequal incomes usually still produces a support amount.

Do we still need a detailed parenting plan if we agree on 50/50?
Yes. The calendar is one piece. Parental responsibility, holidays, exchanges, travel, and how future disagreements get handled all live in the parenting plan under Fla. Stat. § 61.13, and a vague plan is deferred conflict. Agreement on the big number makes this the right moment to get the details right, once.

Key Takeaways

• Since July 1, 2023, Florida has started time-sharing cases from a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child's best interests (Fla. Stat. § 61.13). A parent rebuts it by a preponderance of the evidence.
• Florida law decides parental responsibility and time-sharing, two separate questions, and the best-interests factors in Fla. Stat. § 61.13(3)(a) through (t) decide both.
• Equal time does not end child support. The guideline runs on net income (Fla. Stat. § 61.30), and support and time-sharing can never be withheld against each other (Fla. Stat. § 61.13(4)).
• Modification no longer requires an unanticipated change. The test is a substantial and material change plus the child's best interests.

Your Next Step

The 2023 law gave Florida parents a clearer starting point than they have ever had, and it rewards the parent who comes prepared. If your schedule with your kids is on the table, the move is to know exactly where you stand under the current statute before anyone files anything, because the myths above cost real time and real money when they drive the plan. That starts with a free 10-minute phone conversation where you learn your options and whether we are the right fit, and if we are, you will know the number before you start, fixed, in writing. Call Good Life Legal at 850-362-7228, or complete the form on this page and we will call you.